#KingsCup Preview: What they said

Pattaya, Thailand, July 26: Read what contenders have to say ahead of this week's King's Cup presented by PTT Group.

Trevor Immelman (Rsa)

I was looking for a tournament to play in and the opportunity to play in the King’s Cup presented itself and that’s why I’m here. I enjoy the culture here tremendously. The people are extremely friendly and I love the food in Thailand. It has been a long while and I’m really excited to be back. Life has changed tremendously since 2004 when I first started coming over here. I’m looking forward to a fun week. It has been a tough run. Injuries are all part of an athletes’ life and it’s one of those things that you got to deal with. But I feel like I’m fit and ready to go. Obviously I haven’t been playing to the standard that I would like. Not through the lack of effort as I’ve been working very hard. I would like to improve and give myself chances to win tournaments. So hopefully this can be the week that I can put things together and put together some good scores. All parts of my game were firing that week (during the Masters Tournament in 2008). It very rarely happened that way but that week I simply played beautifully. But what it proved to me was I have what it takes to win on the biggest stage and against the best players in the world. So that’s always something I have at the back of my head. If I can find some form going forward, I’m sure I can win again. Hopefully I can play some good golf this week. We’ve got a nice field assembled here. It’s great the Asian Tour and European Tour are getting together, in a partnership for an event like this.

Johan Edfors (Swe)

I enjoy being in Thailand so it’s nice to be here and competing in a tournament like the King’s Cup. I got injured again so last year was not very good. I’ve been injury-free since the start of this year so I’ve been able to practice more. I haven’t play much tournaments actually but the game is starting to come around so I’m hoping for a fresh start this week. There are lots of good players here this week. The quality of the field is strong and the players are getting better every year. The competition will be tough but I know if I play my best, I’ll be up there.

Arnond Vongvanij (Tha)

I’m very excited about this week. I’ve been working a lot on my swing change and it’s finally coming along really nicely. So this is the perfect opportunity for me to test it out and see where my hard work will get me. I’m really looking forward to the week. I had a few solid years in between those years. Because of my bad technique then, it gave me quite a bit of injuries on the lower back and shoulder and I thought I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t do it anymore and I had to make a change. The whole of last year has been about that and overall I’ve done quite well. I was able to pick up distance and I’m starting to move the ball both ways. I'm finally getting the hang of the change and looking forward to executing it in a competitive environment like this.

Miguel Tabuena (Phi)

I’m very excited about going to Rio next week. It’s always an honour to represent my country. I always represent my country whenever I play but it’s a bit more special now as this is the Olympics and it’s the biggest sporting event in the world. I’m just very blessed to be part of it. I’m expecting to feel the nerves when I get to Brazil. But whenever I enter a tournament, I always psych myself and tell myself that I can actually win the tournament. I never join a tournament thinking that I cannot win. The goal would be to win a medal at the Olympics. This is my last tournament before the Olympics. My game is in a really good place now. It would be nice to win this week as that would give me a huge confidence boost.

Siddikur Rahman (Ban)

This is my final warm-up before the Olympics. It’s good to be able to play in a tournament like the King’s Cup before I leave for Brazil. My preparations have been really good and I’m really looking forward to the Olympics. If I can play to my strengths, I believe I have a good chance of winning a medal there. I’m not really worried about the results because I know that if I give my best, there is a good chance I can win something. I really feel very proud to be leading my country out at the opening ceremony. My back is good and I’m really managing myself well. I struggled a bit a few years back but now, I’m enjoying my golf. So far, there has been no problem, I’m enjoying my golf and I really want to thank god for that

Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha)

The King’s Cup is a very special event. It’s the pride of Thailand which we are fighting for and this will further motivate me to play well. I want to win the trophy again and keep it on home soil again. We, Thai players have the local knowledge on this course and that would play to our advantage.

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